Outsider
by OniZenmaru
Summary: Princess Mononoke AU. While trying to help two wounded villagers, Flynn sees something that stops him in his tracks.


**A/N:** The last Ghibli crossover~

* * *

Flynn has accepted his cursed fate, and his arm throbs as he thinks about the journey he's on. Something terrible is taking place in the west, something so terrible that it would cause a boar god to become a demon. Thinking back on it, Flynn regrets nothing. He had saved his village from the rampaging demon, taking the beast down after several shots from his bow.

In the process, the former boar god had tried to stop him by grabbing a hold of his arm, but he had fought through the searing pain to fire. The village elder had told him that there wasn't a thing she could do for him, and without an ounce of sadness in her voice she had admitted that the curse would eventually kill him. Those words had cut him deep, but at the time, he showed no emotion other than pure determination.

When the iron ball was placed on the ground, the small object the cause of the boar god's suffering and rage, he is tasked with going to the west. There was a chance that the answers he sought lied there. Before setting off, he was quickly confronted by his younger sister, Flynn scolding her because it was customary for no one to see him off. She had always been the rebellious type...but at the same time, he had been happy to see her.

She had given him her treasured crystal dagger, saying that she had placed a charm of protection upon it to keep him safe. With a small smile, he thanked her before setting off on his large, red elk named Yakul. They traveled for days, having to repel a group of soldiers that had been attacking a small village they had randomly come across. Flynn had only meant to startle them with a warning shot, but his cursed arm pulsated and throbbed painfully.

The cursed had forced him to kill two men, ripping the arms off one while beheading the other...

A sense of urgency overtakes him when he noticed that the cursed mark had grown after that incident...Along the way he shared a meal with a traveling monk who knew of Flynn's clan, or at least hinted that he did, but the blond quickly changed the subject. After showing the monk the iron ball that had tormented the boar god, he was told about a thick forest where ancient spirits thrive. Flynn believed he would find the answers there...

As he walks along the river, Yakul's hooves hitting the rocks in a loud manner, Flynn notices a man bobbing in the water. There's another one laying against the rocks near the riverbank, and without much hesitation, Flynn jumps in to save them. They both look terrible, and the best the blond can do is tend to their visible wounds. After he lays the two men on level ground, he notices Yakul's attention shift elsewhere.

Following the elk's line of sight, Flynn goes about checking to see if trouble is on its way. Slowly he climbs up a mound of rocks nearby, making sure he makes as little noise as possible as he peers between two fallen tree trunks. His footing is a bit off, but he makes sure to correct it so he doesn't fall. When Flynn catches sight of just what has gotten Yakul's attention, his eyes widen.

Across the river is a large, white wolf, the animal snarling as it stands in a pained manner. It didn't take long for Flynn to locate why the wolf looks so distressed. There on its neck is a large wound, blood dripping down and dyeing its pure, white coat red. From this distance, Flynn can't tell if it's deep enough to kill, but all of that is put on hold when he notices a figure approach the animal.

They look human for the most part, and the blond briefly wonders just what a human is doing around such a large wolf. Long, dark hair extends down their back, though it's partially over by a headdress made of some kind of fur Flynn has never seen before. The blond reels back a bit when the stranger begins to suck the blood from the wound, spitting it out to the side before going back and repeating the same action.

They're treating the wound like a snakebite...

When the large wolf looks in his direction and growls, he knows he's been caught. Instead of running back to the injured men, Flynn makes himself known. They might've been the gods he has been looking for, and even if his efforts are futile, it doesn't hurt to try.

"My name is Flynn. I have come to his land from the far east." His voice is loud, but not so much that he's yelling, "Are you the ancient gods that are said to inhabit the forest of the Shishigami?"

The human spits out blood one last time before finally paying him any kind of mind, and in that moment, their eyes meet. Flynn can tell that the two of them are around the same age, though it takes a little more doing for him to figure out that the person glaring at him is a male. The other boy's gaze doesn't linger for too long, and when they break eye contact, the stranger hops on the back of wolf he had been helping.

"Leave this place."

It's all the boy says before the wolf takes off, two smaller wolves following close behind it. Flynn stays to watch them leave, and he unfortunately cannot comply with the longer haired boy's wish. He's on a mission...one that would expose the truth of the west and hopefully cure him of his curse as well.

Because of this, something tells him that it wouldn't be the last time he and the wolf boy meet...


End file.
